Snider likes Wildcats' progress in first season

Published: Thursday, October 3, 2013 at 11:00 AM.

Last year’s game against the Patriots was a slugfest, with the teams combining for 96 points, 737 yards on offense and 199 yards in penalties in the season opener for both teams.

“It was your typical first game,” Snider said.

West Carteret had two players rush for more than 180 yards – both have graduated – while junior Ladarius Marshall returned one kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and another 93 yards for a score for the Wildcats.

“It was a very physical game,” Snider recalled. “I remember the week after we were just banged up.”

The Patriots are again physical, according to Snider, who compared them to a team from Texas that won four state titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“They’re big and strong up front (with a) power running game,” Snider said. “They play solid defense, don’t make a lot of mistakes. You have to nickel and dime them down the field. You can’t look for home-run balls.”

West Carteret is averaging 232.3 yards rushing per game behind a trio of backs with more than 300 yards on the ground, led by 5-foot-6, 180-pound junior Devon Godette (491 yards on 105 carries) and 5-10, 174-pound junior Tyrell Johnson (459 yards on 68 carries).

Halfway through his first year as Richlands head football coach, Justin Snider is impressed – “really impressed” – with what his team has accomplished.

With a little luck, the Wildcats could be 5-1, but they aren’t. They’re 3-3 and 0-1 in the Coastal 3-A Conference following a hard-fought 28-16 loss at two-time defending state 3-A champ Havelock last week.

Still, Snider, who was Richlands’ defensive coordinator in 2012, is encouraged.

“They have done a good job buying into the direction that I want the program to go. Going into the season I really didn’t know what to anticipate,” Snider said. “When you’re trying to change the culture and a program to go in a different direction, I would say we’re probably a little ahead of schedule from what I actually anticipated.”

The Wildcats face another test Friday night against West Carteret (4-2, 0-1), although obviously a different one than that presented last week by Havelock. The Patriots, who lost at West Craven 43-17 last week, have won two straight over Richlands, including a 52-44 win in overtime last year.

And while there’s plenty about the Patriots that concern Snider, he knows it can be hard to rebound after a tough loss in a game most expected to be a blowout for the Rams.

“The kids played good. Everybody’s patting them on the back for playing Havelock so well,” Snider said. “Well, the season doesn’t end right there. That’s our challenge this week, not letting how well we played up to this point be the story of our season.”

The story so far, however, has been solid, with a season-opening 9-6 loss at East Duplin and then a hard-to-take 21-20 loss at home to rival Southwest after the Wildcats led 20-0. Richlands’ three wins, meanwhile, have come against teams with a combined 1-17 record (Croatan, South Lenoir and Jones Senior).

“ I think we’ve surprised a lot of people,” Snider said. “A lot of people didn’t anticipate us to even win a ballgame. We have done nothing but compete in every game that we’ve been in. We’ve played six and the average margin of defeat is … less than a touchdown.

“So you can’t help but be pleased with the progression of year one of taking over a program that has been nothing but 3-8 for the last two years. It’s not like we’re playing with any different kids. We’re playing with the same ones, just changing the mindset.”

And, Snider knows, the Wildcats face a big game against the Patriots.

“Absolutely,” he said.

The reasons are many. One, it’s a home game; two, it’s a league game, and Richlands can ill afford to lose any more conference games – and certainly not their first game at home in their new league after statewide realignment – if they want to build a strong resume for a possible playoff bid.

“Definitely we need that first conference victory, and we truly need to go into each week like it’s life or death,” he said. “We’ve got to take the mentality that we’ve got to do everything in our power to try to win out.”

Last year’s game against the Patriots was a slugfest, with the teams combining for 96 points, 737 yards on offense and 199 yards in penalties in the season opener for both teams.

“It was your typical first game,” Snider said.

West Carteret had two players rush for more than 180 yards – both have graduated – while junior Ladarius Marshall returned one kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown and another 93 yards for a score for the Wildcats.

“It was a very physical game,” Snider recalled. “I remember the week after we were just banged up.”

The Patriots are again physical, according to Snider, who compared them to a team from Texas that won four state titles in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

“They’re big and strong up front (with a) power running game,” Snider said. “They play solid defense, don’t make a lot of mistakes. You have to nickel and dime them down the field. You can’t look for home-run balls.”

West Carteret is averaging 232.3 yards rushing per game behind a trio of backs with more than 300 yards on the ground, led by 5-foot-6, 180-pound junior Devon Godette (491 yards on 105 carries) and 5-10, 174-pound junior Tyrell Johnson (459 yards on 68 carries).

In six games, the Patriots have passed for just 155 yards.

Richlands has been more balanced. Quarterback Ben Jackson has thrown for 341 yards while completing 33 of 63 passes – 10 to Jamar Harrington for 94 yards. Harrington, who played quarterback last year, leads the Wildcats in rushing at fullback with 680 yards.

Tailback Ethan Horne has 305 yards rushing.

The big difference this time against the Patriots, however, may be on defense for the Wildcats, who were in the infancy stages of the changeover with Snider at the defensive helm under then-head coach Mike Natoli.

“We literally had been running this defense for about three weeks,” Snider said. “We had very little in. We played a lot of base because we were still understanding our responsibilities. I didn’t want to put the kids out of position stunting and blitzing.

“So now year we’re a year and a half into it and the defense has definitely evolved…. It’s more sophisticated. The kids don’t have to think about where they’re lining up and what they’re supposed to do.”

And it’s shown so far. A year ago Richlands allowed 29 points or more in six of 11 games. Through six games only one team has scored as many as 28 points – and that was the two-time state champion Havelock.